Amity threw her backpack against her bed before slamming face first into one of her pillows to scream. Today had been infuriating and it was all Boscha’s fault. The rough girl had been glued to her hip regardless of what she was doing which was a problem when she had a before school study session with Skara which almost turned into a blood bath when the two began arguing about what type of music Amity liked. Then there was gathering new materials during lunch with Willow which Boscha had ‘helped’ with by roasting the flowers that were trying to stubbornly keep the seeds that Amity needed away from her. Sure, it worked, but Willow had been furious afterwards. Not even Luz had been spared from whatever had gotten into Boscha today because, despite Amity having been nice enough to sit in the bleachers while she practiced like she asked her to, the rough girl had kept ‘testing Luz’s reflexes’ with shots made through the snow so Luz had literally no time to react before being beaned in the face.

That had been the last straw for Amity, she thought as she began getting her books out of her bag to distract herself with some homework. She didn’t care about whatever plans that Boscha might have had for the afternoon, she was done. They could go to whatever race, or movie, or other bullshit another day. Right now, Amity just wanted to relax.

Splat!

Amity paused before looking over to the book that her familiar was reforming on. It wasn’t one she recognized. She hadn’t gone to the library today so it couldn’t have been from there. Advanced Abominations was taking a break from the experimentation journals that the teacher liked so much so…

She only had to open the book to be shown where it was. It was a photo album. An album with pictures of her and Boscha. It only made Amity scowl before looking at her familiar. “Did you and Boscha work together to get this in there? Because right now, she’s the last person I want to think about.”

The familiar shook its head before lifting up a note. For a second, Amity considered not even bothering to read it. If Boscha was hoping it’d excuse her behavior or something, she had another thing coming. After all, Amity kept having to say how the rough girl acted was okay in spite of her still being violent, mean, loud, abrasive, and a hundred other things that infuriated her most days.

It was still Boscha though so…

I know copied memories don’t come out as well as my normal photos but I didn’t have as many as I wanted for this. I hope you still like it and happy Best Friends Day.

Happy Best Friends… Amity glanced down for a second before sighing and looking at the book properly. The first few pages were both not all that special but also exactly what she needed. After all, they were photos taken from Boscha’s camera ever since the two had reunited properly. Nights spent in her room as they quietly worked together or watched some movie with some popcorn, or of Luz, her, and Boscha actually getting along, even if one of them included her jokingly choking Luz out. The one from the pizzeria made her cheeks turn bright red and she was happy that Boscha wasn’t trying to keep up with Luz’s kiss count. That would be a lot at this point…

She flipped to the fourth set of pages of the book and immediately recognized the more faded look of copied memories. Of things she had to pull out of her brain which meant a lot more odd angles, slight distortions, and pictures where Boscha wasn’t always in them because the memory was too vividly set in her eyes instead of the general moment.

The first set of pages hurt more than helped Amity’s mood. After all, she didn’t need to be reminded of the absolute joke that was their Moonlight Conjuring earlier in the year, or how much of a bitch she’d been about teasing Luz and Willow on Penstagram that night. Same went for a half a dozen times they were together in the halls since the school year started with everyone else around them. Her mocking gaze upon those who failed, how she sneered at people who thought they could meet her standards, and how she stood like she was absolutely untouchable…

If it weren’t for the fact that the last time Amity had burned pictures she was embarrassed of she had made Willow become nearly brain dead, she’d burn both pages so she didn’t have to look at how mirrored her and Boscha looked. How much she had been that stuck up, above it all bitch that she was so happy that Luz didn’t see too much of. What would Luz think about her if she knew just how deep that behavior had run after all? No, Amity, calm down. You changed. You changed really easily. Miss Perfect had been the act, not…

Amity swiped the page to the side before focusing on the positive. Fortunately, a page dedicated to their time on the Grudgby team together was just what she needed. After all, Boscha and her had almost needed no one else back then. Just the two of them could dominate a game. Amity’s focus and strategy with Boscha’s sheer, raw power and talent was something that hit the enemy like a proper Banshee’s scream. Amity then paused to giggle at her own little joke before wondering if she’d still be playing Grudgby if she hadn’t done The Thorn Vault. Hadn’t ignored the plan Boscha and her had come up with together instead of wanting to make herself look better. Or, for that matter, would Boscha have let her still be on the team. She would almost bet yes. She remembered how crushed Boscha was that she was off the team. Back then she had thought it was just because she had lost a good player and was going to have to take the team seriously now. Amity then groaned as she considered the idea that she ever thought Boscha didn’t take Grudgby seriously. It was her that didn’t actually care about it and yet her dad made it so she was the captain…

“Okay, never mind. Another set of strikes. Third time’s the charm?” Amity swallowed hard as she turned the page since she really didn’t need to keep questioning all of this. She’d spent enough of today wondering why in the world she had let Boscha out of her oath. Her family could have just bought Boscha’s house after all and given her a stipend to make Amity feel better about having never realized what her dad was like. They didn’t need to adopt her in all but name. They had though, and then destroyed Boscha’s old home for added catharsis for Amity, so getting rid of Boscha now was more… complicated.

And then her eyes drifted to the first photo on the page and her mind drifted with it. It was their first day at Hexide’s proper classes together. Where she was sitting alone in a classroom waiting for things to start. She was smiling in the pictures but Boscha’s wider field of vision meant that you could catch the other kids who were in the room cowering in the back. It couldn’t hide what Amity’s mind thought about when she thought about that day.

======+++++======

“Oh, look, it’s Miss Bye-t.”

“Why don’t you give us a light spell?”

“Or how about getting a finger to move?”

Amity lifted her book bag up a little to try and hide herself a bit with it. Why couldn’t she have Emira’s old bag? It was big enough that it could give her a barricade from the jerks that were in the proper courses. Of course, she’d have to have told her mom about the fact that the older kids in her classes bullied her for being so young or for what her spells were. Or had been. She had three now after all. Her basic light spell, what was technically a spell to summon an abomination, even if she could mostly only make goo with it, and now she had a timed noise spell that she had been trying to use as her alarm for the past few weeks. Not that she had today. She wasn’t about to risk being late just to prove she could cast it. They probably wouldn’t be impressed by that though. Anytime she tried impressing them it just backfired on her. That’s where the teasing about her last name had come from because the other students didn’t care that Blights were special. They just saw a six year old who should have maybe gotten into proper classes starting this year.

One of the ten year olds came over and sneered at Amity as he placed a hand on her desk. “So, ready for another year of spell lessons?”

Spell lessons. That was a funny way to put using minor illusions to cause her to panic and bullying her for part of her allowance in return to being shown some ‘real’ spells instead of having them used on her. She wasn’t going to argue though. She knew better than that. She’d get strong enough someday to get him to-

“Shut up!”

The bully and a few of their friends turned to the doorway where Boscha stood. Her third eye still wasn’t commonly open unless she was actively trying to open it and her pink hair was cut short to help keep it under control because otherwise it had a tendency to want to begin curling and her dad didn’t like it. She also showed no real hint of muscle even though Amity had seen her crack a wall when she was really upset. As such, the bully and his posse saw nothing to be afraid of the six year old as the leader of them said, “And what gives you the right to say that?”

Amity scrunched her nose up before saying, “Because that’s my best friend you’re trying to pick on and if you don’t stop, I’m going to make you.”

The ten year olds looked at each other before beginning to laugh at the small girl who was trying to act all tough. The leader then made a circle in the air and pointed it directly at Boscha. Amity felt the hairs on her arm rising quick enough to shout, “Stop,” but not fast enough to actually do anything about the lightning bolt.

Not that she needed to. Even at six, Boscha had taken way worse than what the bully could dish out and barely had to take a few steps back. She did have to force herself not to cry from how much it stung but one look at Amity made the pain quickly turn to hate as she stood tall. “Is that all you’ve got?”

The bully paused at that before he wasn’t given a chance to try and scare her with anything by a fireball blasting him in the face. The older boy flailed a bit before crashing to the ground and yelling. “H-Hey, I’m going to tell the teacher about that!”

Boscha just let out a bark of laughter before coming over to Amity. “You think I’m worried about getting in trouble? I’d pick a billion fights before backing down from helping my bestie once!”

The bully scowled before keeping good on his word, even as his friends debated on what exactly to do about all of this. Amity looked up at her best friend though and beamed at Boscha as the cool girl grinned like there wasn’t smoke still curling off of the hole in her uniform from the lightning bolt.

======+++++======

Knock knock.

Amity looked up as Boscha opened the door a little. The rough girl then stepped in with a plate in her hands before coming over. “I didn’t have a lot of time but I had some stuff prepared from last night so I hope you like it.”

Amity glanced at the plate before groaning internally. If she had to whip something up quickly, charcoal is what you got. When Boscha did, she got Malai Kofta, one of the softer curries she knew how to make and one of Amity’s favorite dishes. Not too hot but still with just a touch of a bite which she supposed wasn’t all too reflective of the cook. Not when Boscha wasn’t just a touch of anything. If she was, she wouldn’t do everything she did for her…

Amity smiled a little as she reached up and took the plate before saying, “First the book and now this? You didn’t need to go so far just for some day that most people don’t even know about.”

Boscha shrugged at the statement. “I haven’t had a real excuse to do anything for you since I moved in so I saw today as a good chance for that. It’s not like I don’t like messing with photos or cooking anyways.”

There was a pause while Amity thought about that. About the fact that for as much as Boscha liked to play things cool, like hiding a present in her bag instead of just giving it to her, she had been anything but that today. Actually, she would have succeeded if not for the book. Amity wouldn’t have even thought about why she had done anything she had done today otherwise, just like usual… “You don’t normally make dinner right after you get home though, or bring it to me in my room.”

Boscha was quiet at the call out before sighing. “Yeah. Sorry about being such a bitch today, okay? Just feels like we never really get time together and…”

Amity reached over and caught the other girl off guard by squeezing one of her hands. “I get it. I promise.” She then swung her legs off of her bed and gave her best friend a soft, sweet smile as she said, “I just wish you’d said something earlier.”

Boscha scratched the side of her head as her cheeks turned bright red from Amity squeezing her hand, let alone after she gave her that smile. “Um, well, you know me. I don’t like making a big deal out of things and you had things to do.”

Amity swallowed hard to steady herself for a second as she considered what to do. This was Boscha after all. This specifically. The Boscha who was always there. Who probably had hundreds of memories she could pull for times they were next to each other on her bed like this because the rough girl had dropped everything to come and help her with something. Or when Ed and Em had gotten to be so much that she just needed someone there. Or when mom and dad hadn’t come home in three days and the manor was feeling increasingly lonely. The girl who came every single one of those times was now across from her and Amity didn’t even have anything for her.

Her eyes glanced back to the book and one of those first pictures in it. That gave her exactly what she needed, even if it made her cheeks burn bright at the thought of it. Luz would understand though. In fact, knowing her idiot of a girlfriend, she could hear her yelling at Amity to just do it already. That or to punch Boscha in the jaw for the thought. Worst case scenario though, Luz never found out about this.

Boscha finally looked back at Amity before she went to speak. Just when she was about to though, Amity leaned in and gave her a quick, warm peck on the lips. Nothing deep or fancy and the serious girl immediately turned away and used a hand to hide her face as it turned bright red, but it was still a kiss. The smallest of ones, but a kiss nonetheless. Boscha’s mouth hung open for a second before she whispered, “What?”

Amity swallowed hard before whispering, “You’re my best friend s-so what’s weird about a small peck like that?” She then managed the smallest of smiles as she waited for Boscha to laugh about it.

Instead, the rough girl leaned to the side slowly before falling over with a thump on the ground. It would take about half an hour to get Boscha back to where she was properly aware of her surroundings and about another hour after that before the two could look at each other again. After that though, Amity did say yes to going to a movie with her, just like Boscha had hoped originally, and just like old times.

They even took a picture for the entire Isles with Amity looking confidant with one of Boscha’s arms around her shoulders, just like old times. The second one, which got a lot more traffic and would be shared with Luz about a thousand times tomorrow, had a much less confidant Amity though as Boscha decided to get back at her bestie by giving her a peck.

Hers was only on the cheek though. After all, it would take until next morning for Boscha’s heart to stop racing and a week for the idea of kissing Amity again to not make her light up like a Christmas tree and she wasn’t about to make that any worse. After all, they were just best friends and while pecks were maybe, maybe, okay, the sorts of kisses that kept Boscha up at night weren’t.

Not that she had any interest in them. She was just Amity’s best friend after all and she’d lose out on a billion kisses before she risked anything happening that would threaten her losing her bestie again.